Due after Thanksgiving Break

You need to read the excerpts in your textbook from Moby Dick. Remember that Melville is an Anti-transcendentalist, so you should see these themes revealed in his plot and characters.

For those of you who have been absent, here is information about the poetry assignment that we worked on earlier this week.

Read the following poems:

334- “The Tide Rises”

336- “The Psalm of Life”

347- “The Chambered Nautilus”

352- “First Snowfall”

Write a response for each poem consisting of:

1. Literal Summary (1-2 sentences):

2. Interpretation/Theme: What deeper meaning does this poem convey (2-3 sentences)

3. Style analysis: What poetry devices (rhyme, figurative language, allusions, diction...) does this poem make use of? How do they help enhance the theme? (1-2 sentences)

Please include answers to these three questions after the title of each poem on your paper. Then, complete question number for after you have read and responded to all 4 poems:

4. What similarities do these poems share? In what way do they differ from each other? Which one did you find the most enjoyable? Explain your thoughts... (4-5 sentences)

Black Veil Introduction

For the introduction due tomorrow, please do the following.

Your thesis should be some variation (although not the exact phrasing) of the following idea:

Hawthorne reveals key anti-transcendental ideas in the "Minister's Black Veil" such as mankind's X, Y, and Z. Obviously, you will need to provide specific traits rather than just variables.

Your entire introduction should consist of 5-6 sentences and follow the funnel/triangle format. You should focus in on ideas that are key for your reader to know before he/she comes to your thesis idea. There is not one right answer of what these ideas should be, but please make sure they are relevant.

Additionally, transitioning your reader from one idea to the other smoothly should be a another focus of your introduction. Avoid disconnected and awkwardly brief sentences like, "Hawthorne was such an author." You may wish to explore the use of transitional dependent clauses at the beginnings of your sentences like, "Because of this," or "As a result", "Since..." as a means to help link your ideas together.

You may type or hand write your intro, and we will discuss them in class rather than have you hand them in.

Due Tuesday: Reading and Writing

Reading

Please read the excerpt from Thoreau's Walden in your book for Tuesday. Focus on how Thoreau reveals Transcendental ideas in this work.

Writing

Please submit the following assignment on Turnitin. This will NOT be handed in as a paper copy, but instead needs to be electronically turned in by 11:59 pm on November 11th.

You will write a paragraph that analyzes the struggle between Reason and Romanticism (in this case understand Romanticism to emphasize the imagination and unexplained) in "The Fall of the House of Usher." Imagine that your paragraph belongs to a paper with the following topic:

Prompt: To what extent does "The Fall of the House of Usher" represent the triumph of Romanticism over Reason?"

The paragraph you're writing is the the first thesis paragraph (not the introduction or the antithesis paragraph) so you will write about the side you belief in. In other words, you will either say that the story shows Reason triumphing of Romanticism(the imagination) or Romanticism triumphing over Reason.

Topic statement(s): Transition + acknowledgement of antithesis + thesis statement. (You do not have to use a specific POA point for this assignment.)

You will need three piees of evidence. Your evidence should be a quotation from the text. If there is a long passage, provide a short quotation that is at least an excerpt from the story.

Instead of following a strict What/How/Why format after each quotation, explore what is interesting about your quotation focusing on some insights that your quotation reveals about the characters, symbolism, imagery, parallels, etc. Make sure, however, that you do ultimately explain that your quotation shows your side of the prompt.


Note: This is still a formal voice essay (so you can't say "I think this is interesting..."). Please avoid saying "This is interesting because" because that will drive me crazy.

Also, this assignment will allow you to practice transitions for thesis/antithesis writing, which is a good thing.

Due Friday: OAKS and Emerson Quotations!

OAKS writing assessment is due today. Please bring a final copy stapled to any rough draft or pre-writing you did for the assignment. Remember your final copy can be in pencil and please rewrite or staple a copy of the prompt you wrote on to the top of the page.

ALSO

Research Emerson quotations online and select 5 that you really enjoy. Copy and paste the quotations into a document and format it so that you have a pretty readable font-size (around 20). Cut out each quotation individually, and bring them with you to class.

We will be doing a class activity with these quotations, so make sure to get this done so you don't feel left out.

Due Thursday

Read the excerpts by Emerson:

"Self-Reliance"
"Nature"

(268-271)